Arnold I. Palacios
GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios will discuss the pressing issues facing the CNMI in the 2024 senior plenary meeting of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas, which will be held in the U.S. Department of Interior’s Sidney R. Yates Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
Palacios left the island on Friday to attend the meeting upon the invitation of the Interior Department.
Other leaders of U.S. territories were also invited to make presentations on the issues facing their jurisdictions.
According to the invitation from Office of Insular Affairs Director John D. Brewer, the senior plenary meeting “remains one of the most important platforms for you and other territorial leaders to amplify your issues and perspectives by communicating them directly to the White House and federal agencies.”
The other territorial leaders invited to the meeting were Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., American Samoa Gov. Lemanu Mauga, U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan of the CNMI, U.S. Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Congresswoman Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa and U.S. Congressman James C. Moylan of Guam.
U.S. Interior Secertary Deb Haaland and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Tom Perez will also address the plenary participants.
Governor Palacios will likewise attend the National Governors Association 2024 Winter meeting from Feb. 22 to 24, also in the nation’s capital. The meeting will be highlighted by “solutions-driven conversations and bipartisan collaboration on the top policy issues facing states and territories.”
The panel of speakers includes U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
